Posted by Anon
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Dec 4, 2018 at 11:00 am

>> "She was an immigrant and she was a refugee, but look at what she did for Palo Alto. Some people think immigrants and refugees are people who are going to come in and take things from us but I think we should remember that immigrants and refugees are people who can come and contribute to our community," Terry Fletcher said.

Indeed.

Obviously much has been written about the Kindertransport, but, for a quick followup, here is the Wikipedia link: Web Link

Posted by skeptic
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Dec 4, 2018 at 1:53 pm

Incredible, the politically motivated and very selective demonization of white guys who made a difference. The demonization is so acute that *even in this news article*, the previous name of the school isn't mentioned; one has to click to another article to find out the name of that guy whose name now is apparently unmentionable, even in a news article.

It's politically motivated; the new names refer to people in victim groups as defined by the modern Left.

Let's erase all mention of "Stanford" and "[George] Washington" as well, while we're at it.

Posted by Former Jordan parent
a resident of Jordan Middle School
on Dec 4, 2018 at 4:10 pm

My daughter was in Jordan when Terman reopened and used the school site next door. For a while the two schools were sharing the playing field, the swimming pool and probably a few other facilities. There was a friendly rivalry, but the two student bodies seemed to have an affinity as well as an optimism for their two futures as opposed to the unknown JLS who became a common "enemy" for sports and various other middle school cultures.

It seems strange now looking back that both of these schools have had their identities ripped out and a new forced identity taking the place of the happy memories of those middle school times for so many alum.

Those excited new Terman Tigers in their yellow and black school colors happily running around Jordan for PE while the Jordan once called Dolphins enjoyed sharing their campus are now just wiped away. As someone above said, the bad guy names are no longer PC and all that will be remembered of both individuals is that they were so awful to be completely forgotten by everyone even for the good things that they did.

Posted by Let's behave like adults, please.
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Dec 4, 2018 at 5:00 pmLet's behave like adults, please. is a registered user.

Ellen was forced to adjust to terrible things as a very young child. RAther than school name change, she faced: fascism, racism, holocaust, separation from family and community. Let's keep this in perspective, please.

Her early story is inspiring. What amazes me is the loving and positive person she became after that awful early experience.

She became as adult who served on our City Council and worked with her community to make sure children were accommodated on our streets. She always maintained a demeanor of grace and and good will. She was unerringly polite--even when others were not. She was a role model and friend.

In her eighties, as she was battling lung cancer, she still rode her bicycle for transportation around town. She had a little electric boost on her bike. She loved to say, "It's just not that hard."

Posted by The Name Game
a resident of College Terrace
on Dec 4, 2018 at 5:17 pm

> Were the original namesakes bad guys?

More along the lines of inappropriate namesakes for a modern day school. It should be noted that their actions and/or beliefs were reflective of another time in history.

As society and local communities become even more ethnically diverse, chances are many schools will be renamed in the future as certain namesakes will be further scrutinized for political correctness. Of course any changes will be dependent on the location of the school and based on community sensitivities.

Posted by
a resident of Escondido School
on Dec 4, 2018 at 7:03 pm is a registered user.

Thank you, Elena, for such thoughtful coverage of the re-dedication ceremony at Fletcher Middle School. Real stories about resilience in the face of adversity, as shared by Ellen's daughter Terry Fletcher shared, are worth hearing, especially for middle school students. And to use what would have been Ellen's 90th birthday to celebrate the contributions she made to our community as a survivor is a magnificent way to celebrate the renaming of the school. Thank you to the PAUSD for the thoughtful and open process of reflecting on the inappropriate choices made in the past that elevated advocates of eugenics as role models, and to the school board for hearing from all sides and making a thoughtful decision. And thank you to Terman staff and parents for marking the rededication in such an informative and engaging way.

Posted by Duveneck parent
a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis
on Dec 4, 2018 at 10:42 pm

Thank you to the resident of Escondito school for your comments. I agree that it is meaningful for our middle schoolers to learn the stories and lessons from the lives of Ellen Fletcher and Frank Greene.

Posted by School Names Are a Reflection of the Community
a resident of Stanford
on Dec 5, 2018 at 8:06 am

> He didn't even live here.

Is actual residency a key requisite for naming a school? There are a lot of schools around the country named after JFK and MLK.

In time, additional school names will probably be changed as the more 'progressive' school districts strive to dilute or diminish the remembrances of certain individuals who are perceived to have made a 'negative' contribution to their local history or national history as a whole.

How fitting that Ellen Fletcher, victim and survivor of the holocaust, be honored. She contributed so much to Palo Alto.

>> Let's erase all mention of "Stanford" and "[George] Washington" as well, while we're at it.

George Washington is worth an entire book. I suggest Ron Chernow's 2010 biography. Stanford University, -must we point it out again?!??- is named after Leland Stanford -Junior-, who died in 1884 at age 15 of typhoid.

Posted by Anon
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Dec 5, 2018 at 10:44 am

Posted by School Names Are a Reflection of the Community, a resident of Stanford

>> But should Fred Terman/engineer have lost his namesake JH school due to the actions and beliefs of his father/eugenics proponent?

I, for one, would not object to a new middle school named after Frederick Terman. [Unfortunately, when "Terman" was revived, "they" (I'm not sure who the real decider(s) was/were) insisted on keep "Lewis" in the name.] If enrollment continues to grow, I would rather have a new middle school (sure, you can name your middle school "Fred") than grow the current three. I would rather name schools after trees, in keeping with "Palo Alto", but, obviously, not enough people agree with me. ;-)

>> Perhaps it's best not name a school after anybody. Just stick with geographic references.

Sorry, I'm not taking your red herring. Lewis Terman is not the subject of this debate and was never considered to replace the former namesakes. Lewis was a different person than his son who did not share his father's beliefs.

"But should Fred Terman/engineer have lost his namesake JH school due to the actions and beliefs of his father/eugenics proponent?"

Well of course he should. How else are we going to teach our children that guilt by heritage and racism in the name of political correctness are virtues? Maybe schools should purge JFK not only because he was white but because his father, Joe Kennedy, was a shady character.

Posted by Oldster
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Dec 5, 2018 at 12:49 pm

The other schools with person-names are named for people who lived in the school district: Briones, Hays, Hoover, Nixon (Lucille, not Richard), Gunn, JLS (Stanford), and formerly Terman (now Fletcher) and Jordan. I think all others recently proposed for school names also lived in Palo Alto. I think I read that Greene lived in Sunnyvale and graduated from Santa Clara Univ. and was a trustee there as well.

Posted by South Gate
a resident of Evergreen Park
on Dec 6, 2018 at 10:33 amSouth Gate is a registered user.

@PA Native American -
When the Renaming Schools committee did their work, they investigated every school name in our district. They were in touch with the Ohlone tribe and they work together to make sure to incorporate lessons of the Ohlone people into their school work. The Ohlone are aware and supportive of the namesake.
I'm sure Ohlone school can always reflect and do more to be inclusive and respectful, but the school is named in honor of the Ohlone people and they are on board. Let's not create issues where there aren't any. We have enough real issues to deal with.

Posted by Let's honor an illegal or two
a resident of Southgate
on Dec 6, 2018 at 11:12 am

Let's rename a school for Victorina Morales or Sandra Diaz.

Victorina's a Guatamalan who has received a Certificate of Award from the White House, along with a Secret Service logo'd American Flag pin. She also has been given tips from the President (usually 50 or 100 dollars.)

She clean's Donald Trump's bathrooms.

For years.

And they're as illegal as they can be.

Purchased fake ID's in New Jersey.

Trump's company told them how to get fake documents and hides their status.

Their place in history? They teach our children about the hypocrisy of the "Buy American, Hire American" phony nationalists that have fooled so many truly dumb Americans to believe their lies.

That's a great lesson for our children.

Just a suggestion. Also something to consider when you look back a couple generations. Their story: Web Link

Posted by Parent
a resident of Downtown North
on Dec 6, 2018 at 1:47 pm

@Southgate wrote about Ohlone as a school name: "Let's not create issues where there aren't any. We have enough real issues to deal with."

The irony there is pretty rich, after the fiasco / distraction of a two year renaming process. Changing middle school names made a small group of ideologues feel good about themselves - it did nothing to change the lives of low-income students and did nothing to improve the low-income achievement gap that has been a feature of Palo Alto for many years.

So yeah, I agree, let's focus on the real issues. Let's start by acknowledging that all the "equity" virtue-signalling that goes on does nothing for kids with academic needs. "Focus on real issues" means figuring out how to do a better job teaching low-income students.

Posted by CA Cultural Anthropologist
a resident of Stanford
on Dec 6, 2018 at 1:58 pm

> Let's honor an illegal or two

I believe that one is required to have either a direct or indirect connection to Palo Alto in order to qualify for a school name...not that there aren't any potential candidates for this honor.

>> Do you have a specific person to suggest amongst your whining?

Most of the Muwekma/Ohlone tribe has married into Spanish and Mexican families. It would be difficult to source an original indigenous Muwekma ancestral individual but perhaps one can be sourced upon further research. Until then, we will have to run with a generic counterpart.

Meanwhile, the PA schools named after Caucasian dignitaries will continue to bear the name of an actual person.